How many parents fall into the trap of giving their kids independent access to everything they need, and miss out on the opportunities to create and increase the frequency of demands and requests.

In Behavioural Science there is a made up word to describe requests, demands or commands made by a speaker by whatever means. B.F. Skinner called these “Mands”.

And we must ensure that our language or learning delayed children have the ability to make a lot of Mands appropriately – as it is the most motivating way to teach language, for someone who isn’t naturally socially motivated. And you can prompt it. [read more…]